Head lice are reddish-brown wingless insects about the size of a sesame seed. These insects infest hair. Once in hair, the head lice lay eggs which are known as nits. The nits are small greyish-white oval-shaped eggs glued at an angle to the side of a hair shaft. Head lice are mainly transmitted by head-to-head contact but can also be spread through the sharing of personal articles.
Whether or not one chooses to use a pesticidal lice treatment or not, all of the nits (lice eggs) and lice must be manually removed. This manual removal is often accomplished with a lice comb having multiple, closely spaced tines which will remove the lice and nits as it passes through hair. One such highly effective lice or nit comb is the LiceMeister(trademark) available from the National Pediculosis Association of Newton, Mass. See also, U.S. Ser. No. 09/054,211 filed Apr. 2, 1998 entitled xe2x80x9cAn Apparatus and Method for Pest Removal from Hair and Fur,xe2x80x9d and now pending, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
It is important that nit combs be cleaned preferably between successive passings through the hair and certainly between usage so that lice and nits are not spread inadvertently. The present invention thus has as its object a tool for cleaning lice and nit combs.
According to the invention, a lice comb cleaning tool includes a handle, a pair of space-apart arms depending from the handle and an elongate member supported at distal ends of the pair of arms. The elongate member has a diameter selected for an interference fit between tines of a lice comb. It is preferred that the arms have a length that will extend more than halfway across the lice comb for ease of use. It is also preferred that the elongate member be made of a deformable fibrous material such as, for example, unwaxed dental floss. This material may be secured in a hole in the distal end of each of the arms.